Capturing Old School D&D in a Statue

Gotta admit, I like the black felt background even more than my usual backdrop.  It really adds to the dramatic feel and helps the OSL pop.  This one was a lot of fun. I think we can call this Project Complete!

The first shots I took of the finished piece were on my regular printed blue background.  It looks good, all in all, though I think it will look more dramatic photographed on a black felt background.

Once the base coats were down on the thieves and statue I added washes and dark Contrast paints to the shadows while Lamenters Yellow Wash, Iyanden Yellow Contrast paint, and Vallejo’s Ice Yellow were used in the areas lit by “fire”.  I tried to  keep the thieves’ clothes as close to the source material as I could before cloaking them in shadow or light.

Next I got to work on the detail pieces and there are some tiny ones.  They are cast in resin and metal and come with a collection of little gems to be glued into the eyes of the statue.

I went digging through my collection of resin bases to find one suitable for this scene.  Not surprising that Secret Weapon Miniatures make one that’s perfect.  Breaks my heart that they are closing their doors as they really do make my favorite bases and paints.  Mr Justin’s Weathering materials and tutorials have been priceless.

I’m afraid I haven’t been posting my progress as this was a gift and I like to maintain surprise.  Now that it is complete and in the hands of the intended recipient I can catch up with posting.

I glued the arm to the standing adventurer before tacking the two thieves in place. I wanted the primer to layout the base of OSL.  This is going to be from three light sources in the front with the brazier in the statue’s lap being the most prominent.  I began with a solid black spray prime over the entire figure.  Next was a grey at about 45 degrees above and almost entirely from the front.  Last was white spray primer directly from the front, centered on the flames.  Not a bad start.

I used a little Blu-Tac to test fit the pieces. Some are tiny and the “jewel” eyes that come with the set are almost microscopic.  Nothing is in the exact place it will end up (I’m looking at you standing thief) but it gives me an idea of how things will fit together and how it all looks on the base I chose.  Honestly though, you can’t go wrong with Secret Weapon bases and this one fits the scene perfectly.  This also made it clear I don’t want to add two more braziers as it would get way too cluttered.

Alright, time to finish the prep work so I can get primer on this guy.

When I received the package that aronbc had included this project in, I noticed he had two sets of the metal bits as one of his braziers was broken so Oathsworth just sent him a whole set.  Looks like an easy fix so there maybe four in the final piece.  I picked out a Secret Weapon large Flagstone base as it seemed a perfect fit.